On the fifth furlough Friday, a small group of parents gathered at the state Capitol to launch 1,000 Student Voices about Furlough Fridays campaign, an art and literature program where students are encouraged to voice their views on furloughs.

The first phase of the 1,000 Student Voices program will be this afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. at Mark's Garage in Chinatown where students will be able to get together to express their feelings about public education and furloughs. The works of art and literature will be presented to lawmakers and the governor when the Legislature opens in mid-January.
This morning, only a handful of parents and students were at the Capitol to protest the furloughs, but they said they represented the many working parents who want their kids to return to the classroom.

"I don't like furlough Fridays," said Ali Hanusz Soguk, an 8-year-old third-grader at Noelani Elementary School. "They keep me from school and my friends and keep me from my teachers."
Raine Higa, another third-grader from Noelani, read a letter she wrote to the governor.
"What were you thinking, Linda Lingle," she wrote. "This is going on too long. We want to be smart."
The 1,000 Student Voices program is the brainchild of Save our Schools, a grassroots group that is mostly made up of parents and community members who want to ensure that education is sustainably funded. Their goal is to put pressure on lawmakers and the state to end furlough Friday in January.

"Everyone in Hawaii is understands that this is a serious budget situation, but our first priority as a society is to educate the children," said Marguerite Butler-Higa, a member of the grassroots group. "We need to find a solution soon.One that is acceptable to the students, the teachers and the government leaders."

Clare Hanusz a mother of two children, said her son, Ali calls the furlough days "Failure Fridays."
"He said that the grownups have failed him," Hanusz said. "We have to keep being the voice for those who can't come out and protest. We are concerned that furlough Fridays will become normalized. We want to get money on the table and get the kids back to school."